Login      Register  
Subscription

By the numbers: Priestly ordinations falling in England and Wales

The number of ordinations to the diocesan priesthood in England and Wales has fallen for the third year in a row, according to new figures released this week. The statistics, published by the National Office for Vocation, showed a total of 21 ordinations in 2021 for the 22 Catholic dioceses in England and Wales, as […]

Belgium sees sharp rise in ‘debaptism’ requests

The Church in Belgium has reported a sharp rise in the number of people asking for their names to be removed from baptismal registers. The Catholic Church in Belgium reported on a sharp rise in the number of people asking for their names to be removed from baptismal registers. The Church’s latest annual report, published […]

New Centre to Probe Anti-Christian Crimes

A pioneering institute to investigate the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has been launched in the United Kingdom. The Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution is the brainchild of Dr. Martin Par-sons, a former aid worker to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He served in those two countries both under the Taliban and […]

Against Nigeria’s blasphemy laws

In Nigeria, you can be put to death under the law for the “cri-me” of blasphemy. Sufi musici-an Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, current-ly imprisoned for blasphemy, has petitioned the Nigerian Supreme Court to put an end to his criminal case, which centres on his sharing religious lyrics on the popular messaging platform WhatsApp. For exerci-sing his fundamental […]

‘Life is Beautiful’ actor Roberto Benigni meets the pope

Pope Francis enthusiastically greeted Italian actor and come-dian Roberto Benigni at the Va-tican on Wednesday morning. Benigni, best known for his Oscar-winning film “Life is Beautiful,” met privately with the pope to tell him about his latest project, a new show about St. Francis of Assisi. The comic, who recited a line from Dante Alighieri’s […]

Francis Slams Door on Women’s Ordination

Pope Francis has firmly slammed the door on admitting women to holy orders on the grounds that women’s ordination constitutes a “theological problem” and a violation of the “Petrine principle.” In an interview published Monday with left-wing Jesuit magazine America, the pontiff categorically stated that a woman “cannot enter ordained ministry … because the Petrine […]

Madhya Pradesh police probe alleged religious conversion

Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have initiated a preli-minary probe into a woman’s allegation that she was paid to convert Christianity. The move came on an order from the National Commission for Women (NCW), a federal statutory body empowered to protect the rights of women in India. The NCW order came […]

Thousands flock as Berhampur diocese resumes Marian feast after two years

Thousands of devotees from east-ern Indian state have flocked to the cathedral church of Berhampur diocese in Odisha to celebrate a Marian feast after two years. The Queen of the Mission feast was suspended because of the Covid-19 restrictions. The feast concluded on Nov. 27 after a nine-day novena.